JP3234635B2 - Pasta cooking system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to cooking regimes, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for cooking, storing and returning pasta.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Spaghetti and other pasta products are familiar to consumers and business owners of convenience restaurants. The cost of buying and cooking spaghetti is significantly lower than most other fast foods. However, spaghetti cannot be used as fast food in a quick service cafeteria because it takes time to cook it and it is difficult to cook it quickly.

[0003] El Frank Moore, US Patent No. 3,958,503, issued May 25, 1976, discloses a system for cooking and serving pasta more economically. In this system, the pasta is cooked in a cooking tank before the rush period, and then rinsed to remove the starch and transfer it to several serving containers. It is then stored in the second tank underwater until the time of serving the pasta in the container. Upon request, the pasta can be immersed in hot water for a short time to get a fresh cooking quality for one serving.

[0004] The system includes a cooking tank and a storage tank. A basket lift is provided for mechanically raising and lowering the large cooking containers or individual containers during return. The basket lift is controlled by a pair of manual timers, one for controlling the cooking period and one for controlling the return period, so that the pasta is automatically cooked and returned for the desired time. 1
Filling the cooking tank and return tank with water with one universal faucet,
Rinse the pasta and wash the tank. Each of these tanks is provided with a manual drain valve so that drainage can be performed when desired.

[0005]

While the above system has significantly improved pasta cooking techniques and has achieved significant commercial success, there are drawbacks to overcome. This system is somewhat labor intensive because the filling and cleaning of the tank is all done manually and requires strict human attention throughout the procedure. When cooking or returning pasta, a large amount of starch remains in the cooking water and accumulates as foam on the water surface. Foams are particularly important when the water boils during cooking, because the boiling agitates the surface and promotes the formation of foam. Therefore, drain the cooking tank quite often beforehand,
It had to be washed and refilled. This draining, cleaning and replenishing operation is not only labor intensive and time consuming, but also consumes cooking time and energy for each heating and boiling of a significant amount of water.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improvement on the system disclosed in the aforementioned patent which significantly reduces the labor required for draining, cleaning and refilling the cooking tub, reduces the frequency of cooking tub drainage, It is intended to reduce the stop time and reduce the energy consumption. Improvements to the system include automatic filling of the cooking tub, including a filling valve, a water level sensor, and control circuitry to automatically maintain a normal working water level during cooking. According to another important feature of the present invention, an overflow weir leading to a waste drain is provided just above the regular working water level, thereby automatically removing excess water entering the cooking tank during the rinsing operation. You. The overflow weir is designed to be wide enough to allow the water to fall in a cascading manner. To remove starchy foam from the water surface.

In accordance with another important feature of the present invention, the cooking tub is provided with a drainage pipe which drains gravity at a higher rate than the water added through the fill valve and nozzle. Thus, during the cycle, water is automatically introduced into the tank during the entire drainage cycle and automatic rinsing is performed.

In accordance with another important feature of the present invention, water is introduced into the cooking vessel by a sprinkler nozzle, thereby facilitating the movement of bubbles on the water surface over the weir during the decanting cycle and during the draining cycle. The rinsing of the tank is also promoted.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a low water level detector is provided and a microprocessor based control system is provided to prevent operation of the heating element when the water level is lower than the low water level detector. .

[0010] Another feature of the present invention provides a low cost water level sensing system, which uses a single rod electrical probe and the walls of the cooking tub to reduce the water resistance between the two to reduce the water location. Detect no. Cathodic corrosion is avoided by passing an alternating low voltage and low current through the water.

[0011] The control system also includes a programmable timer for the cook and return cycle that controls the basket lift to raise and lower the pasta relative to the hot water. The system is also provided with a thermostatically controlled heater that establishes a boiling temperature below the boiling temperature to prevent surface agitation and water loss except during the cooking cycle. The keyboard input system allows for varying each cook and return cycle time as well as on / off, boiling, boiling, decanting and start-up times.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, a pasta cooking system according to the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. System 10 is the same as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,503. Therefore, the system 10
Includes a cabinet 12 that supports a cooking tub 14 and a holding tub 16. Reservoir 16 is essentially a deep sink with a drain associated with a manually operated valve, neither of which is shown. A free faucet 18 for washing pasta, adding water to the holding tank 16 and using other water.
Is provided. A basket lift 20 is provided for raising and lowering large containers for large pasta and raising and lowering one or more individual baskets during a cooking cycle. All of the elements may be essentially as described in the patent.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the cooking tank 14 and the front and rear walls 1.
It has 4a and 14b, side walls 14c and 14d, and a bottom wall 14e, and is constituted by a deep drawing, a single unit, and a stainless steel unit appropriately supported in the cabinet 12. A manually operated valve 22 for draining water from the cooking tank through a pipe 24 to a local drainage system or other waste disposal means.
Is provided. Overflow weir 26 in front wall 14a of tank 14
Are arranged and connected to the drain pipe 24 via an appropriate pipe 28. Therefore, the overflow weir 26 is always
And fluid circulation.

An intake line 30 is connected to a pressure source, such as a regional water supply, and is connected via lines 34 and 36, respectively.
It is connected to the faucet 18 and the solenoid control injection valve 32. The output of the water injection valve 32 is supplied to the cooking tank 1 via the hose 38.
4 is connected to a watering nozzle 40 mounted on the rear wall 14b. Cold water or hot water can be supplied to the water injection valve 32. An underwater electric heating element 42 is arranged near the bottom of the tank 14, and generally an enclosure 44 at the lower part of the cabinet 12 is provided.
It is connected to a power supply operated by a control circuit described later, which is mounted on the inside.

As shown in FIG. 4, the high and low water level detector probes 46 and 48 and the temperature probe 50 are connected to the rear wall 1 of the tank 14.
4b is mounted on a support block 52 attached to the support block 4b. A shield 54 for protecting the three probes is suspended from the block 52. In accordance with an important feature of the present invention, the water level detection probes 46, 48 are integral conductive rods, combined with a metal wall of the cooking tub 14, to change the resistance when water contacts the probe bottom using alternating current. Is detected. The lower end of the low water level probe 46 is located well above the electric heating element 42 to ensure that the electric element 42 is not energized unless properly watered into the cooking vessel. The lower end of the high water level detection probe 48 is located just below the level of the weir 26 and control circuitry is used to establish a normal operating water level 15 in the cooking vessel for both cooking and return cycles.

The nozzle 40 is located just above the level of the weir 26 and establishes a water flow around the water surface during the skimming cycle and a water flow on the side and bottom of the cooking tank during the draining cycle, as will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Has several small openings for establishing and rinsing the bath. The amount of water introduced via valve 22 and nozzle 40 is less than the amount of water drained via valve 22 when opened to automatically rinse during a drain cycle, as described below.

The microprocessor-based controller of system 10 is schematically illustrated in FIG. The controller 60 includes a commercially available microprocessor 62, which stores an operating program and uses the program to respond to operator input via a keyboard using the system 10.
Can include the necessary programmable and dynamic memory to operate the. For the sake of explanation, the power supplies of various components of the system are omitted, but are conventionally known.

As described above, the low water level probe 46 and the high water level probe 48 are simply a single conductor rod suspended underwater. The rods may be made of any suitable conductive material to apply alternating potentials converted from local utility power to the conductive metal between rods 46 and 48 and to the bath 14 to provide air and water resistance between each probe and bath. Can be measured. A significant drop in the measured resistance indicates at least that water has contacted the lower end of each rod.

Thus, the alternating current from power supply 64 is connected to high water level probe 48 via capacitor 66, resistor 68 and capacitor 70, and
And via a resistor 74 to ground and thus to the wall of the tank 14 which is grounded. The resistor 74 and the resistance between the probe 48 and the reservoir form a bias network for the positive input of the operational amplifier 76. Amplifier 76 is conventionally biased by the illustrated resistor network, operates in a switching mode in response to the presence or absence of water contacting probe 48, and sends an essentially digital signal to microprocessor 62 via line 78. .

Similarly, an alternating current source is connected to the low water level probe 46 via a capacitor 80, a resistor 82 and a capacitor 84 so that the resistance between the probe 46 and the tank wall is in parallel with the resistor 86 and the capacitor 87. Operational amplifier 8
8 form a voltage divider connected to the input. Operational amplifier 8
8 is also biased to operate in a switching mode to produce essentially high and low digital levels at input 90 of microprocessor 62.

The temperature probe 50 has a DC source 9 as in the prior art.
1 is a conventional two-wire, temperature-sensing probe that is activated by one and connected to an operational amplifier 92 to provide an input 94 to the microprocessor 62. The input switches and displays when the water temperature transitions below a boiling point of about 205 ° C. A variable resistor 96 for adjusting this temperature is provided in the bias network. As mentioned above, the microprocessor 62 operates the heater 42 in the thermostatic on / off mode to maintain the desired boiling temperature of approximately 205 ° C.

The output from the control panel shown in FIG.
Connected to 2. These outputs are generally referenced 10
A switch including 10 numeric buttons 1 to 0 for programming a timer indicated by 3 and a boiling temperature, respectively;
The mode switches 104 to 108 representing ON / OFF, supernatant removal, start-up time and boiling temperature are manually activated to be pulled out. Four alphanumeric displays 110 are controlled by the outputs represented by data bus 120. 1 each
In response to output from the microprocessor via 22, 124, indicator lamps 112, 114 illuminate when operating in the boiling and decanting modes, respectively.

In addition, the microprocessor is connected to an alarm via line 126 to activate the basket lift mechanism shown at line 128 to turn on and off the heating coil shown at line 130 and to turn the water supply valve shown at line 132 on and off. The microprocessor is permanently programmed to operate the system using the programs shown in the flow diagrams of FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the power is first turned on, the central processing unit is reset by a program and the random access memory is cleared as shown by a block 150. Next, as shown in block 152, the specific software version in the system is displayed.
The program then enters the main loop, as shown at block 154, and repeatedly cycles through the subroutines shown in FIGS. 9-16, the title of which is displayed at block 154.

Thus, during the "Basket Lift" subroutine, a timer which provides sufficient time to fully raise and lower the basket lift, block 15
It is first checked whether the count is equal to zero, as shown in FIG. If it is equal to zero, the subroutine exits. Otherwise, the hit representing the basket state is changed, as shown at block 158, and then the basket inversion bit is checked, as shown at block 160. When the basket inversion bit is set, the subroutine exits. If the basket inversion bit is not set, the timer in block 156 is loaded with a predetermined count as shown in block 162,
After clearing the inversion bit as shown in block 164, the subroutine exits.

After exiting the basket lift subroutine, the keyboard subroutine of FIG. 10 is entered where a check is first made to determine if any key should be activated to provide input information, as shown in block 166. If not, the subroutine exits. If the key is ready, block 168
First, it is checked whether the key is an on / off key as shown in FIG. If so, the program proceeds to perform the function of turning on the system at block 169. If the on / off key is not the active key, it is checked whether the computer is off, as shown in block 170. The computer remains toggled by the on / off button on the panel. If the computer is off, the subroutine exits; if it is on, the boiling or boiling key is checked, as shown in block 172. If the boiling or boiling key is active, the function shown in block 169 is initiated. Otherwise, the computer then proceeds to block 17
Check if the water level is low as shown in FIG. 4, and if so, exit the subroutine. If not, it is checked whether the system is in cooking mode, and if so, the subroutine exits. If not, it is checked whether the number key is active, and if so, the number is entered as shown in block 178 and the subroutine exits. The numbers are sequentially input to the display register and displayed.

Next, the computer operates as shown in FIG.
Enter the boiling output subroutine. First, it is checked whether the state from the on / off switch is off, and if so, the subroutine exits as shown in block 180. If the computer system is not off, it is checked whether boiling mode has been activated, as shown in block 182, and if so, the boiling mode setting is made in block 184 and the subroutine exits. Similarly, if the cook switch is active, the subroutine exits after setting the cook mode state as shown in block 188.

A subroutine responsive to input from the start time button 107 is shown in FIG. 12, where the water level is first checked as shown in block 190. If the water level is low, the subroutine exits. Otherwise, at 192, the computer off switch is checked. If the on / off state is off, the subroutine exits; if on, the skimming state mode is checked at block 194. If the skimming mode is on, the subroutine exits; otherwise, the cooking mode is checked at block 196. If the system is cooking, the cooking mode is canceled and the subroutine exits as shown in block 198.
If not yet cooked, the basket lift is lowered, as shown in block 200, the cooking mode is turned on, as shown in block 202, and the cooking time is derived, as shown in block 204, after which the subroutine exits.

Next, a display subroutine shown in FIG. 13 is entered, and it is first checked whether or not the water level is low as shown in a block 206. If the water level is low, the character "LO" is displayed as shown at 208 and the subroutine exits. Otherwise, the supernatant removal mode is checked, as shown in block 209, and if so, the remaining time of the supernatant removal timer is displayed, as shown in block 210, and the subroutine exits.
As part of starting the supernatant removal mode, a timer is started at the start of the supernatant removal mode, and the water supply valve is kept open for a predetermined time, for example, two minutes. If not in supernatant removal mode,
In block 211, the cooking mode is checked.
In the cooking mode, the remaining time of the cooking timer is displayed as indicated by 212. If not, the cooking time is loaded from the display register as shown in block 213, after which the display program eventually exits.

Upon entering the water supply subroutine shown in FIG.
The supernatant removal mode is checked, as shown in block 220, and if so, the subroutine exits. Otherwise, it is checked whether the water level is above the low water level. If so, it is checked whether the noise timer is equal to 0; otherwise, the subroutine exits. The noise timer records the number of times the computer has passed through the main program loop. This timer that counts down is typically 255
Used to prevent chattering of the water supply valve set to. If the noise timer is equal to zero, block 2
As shown at 26, the water supply is turned on and the subroutine exits. If so, a check is made at block 228 to see if it is above the high water level. If not, the noise timer is again checked at block 230 for equality to 0, otherwise the subroutine exits. If the noise timer is zero, the heating is turned on and the block 23
As shown in FIG. 4, the water supply is turned on, and then the subroutine exits. If it is below the high water level, it is a normal operating level, the noise timer is set to the original number as shown in block 230, the heating is turned on as shown in block 232, and the X-fill as shown in block 234. The timer is turned on. The purpose of the X-fill timer is to turn on the water supply valve for 15 seconds after the high water level probe first detects the water level, ensuring that the final water level is above the probe end. This prevents the water valve from cycling too quickly due to evaporation or other lost water. If the count of the X-fill timer is not zero, as shown at block 236, the subroutine exits. If the fill timer is 0, the water supply is turned off at block 238 and the subroutine exits.

Next, the heating subroutine shown in FIG. 15 is entered, where it is first checked if it is below the low water level, as shown in block 250, and if so, the subroutine exits. If higher than low water level, block 25
At 2, the heating anti-chatter timer is checked. If the timer count is not zero, block 254
Is turned off and the subroutine exits. If the heating timer is zero, the boiling mode status is checked at block 255 and if the boiling mode is set, heating is turned on and the subroutine exits as shown at block 256. If not in boiling mode, check the signal from the temperature probe to see if it is above the boiling point, as shown in block 258;
If the temperature is lower than the boiling point, heating is turned on as shown in block 256, and then the subroutine exits. If the temperature is higher than the boiling point, the heating is turned off and the subroutine exits as shown in block 260.

Finally, the supernatant removal subroutine shown in FIG. 16 is entered, where it is first checked whether the supernatant removal mode is set, as shown at block 264, and if not, the subroutine exits immediately. . When the supernatant removal mode is set, the water supply valve is turned on at 266 and the subroutine exits.

In the normal operation of the system 10, the power of the system 10 is turned on by a manual switch (not shown).
Control systems, including those shown in FIG. 5, are powered. The water supply valve is turned off, the basket rises, the heater power is turned on, and the drain valve closes. At block 150, the random access memory is cleared and the software version is displayed to indicate power up, and the computer then runs in main loop 54.

It is assumed that there is no water in the cooking tank 14. When the on / off switch is pressed, blocks 206 and 20
8, the low water level condition is detected and the
In addition, the water supply valve is turned on almost immediately by blocks 222 and 226 of the subroutine. The water supply valve is kept on until the high water level probe detects the water level, and then at block 236 the X- It remains on for approximately 15 seconds as determined by the fill timer.

The operator can select the boiling temperature button 104 or the boiling temperature button 108 at any time, and the corresponding display lamp 112 or 114 lights up to display the selection mode. As soon as the water level reaches the low water probe, heating is turned on and heating of the water to the selected temperature begins.

When the operator presses an appropriate number button 103 and inputs four digits on the display 110, the input number is scrolled from right to left in the display.
Assuming that the pasta is to be cooked, the heating element is continuously turned on until the normal boiling button is pressed and then the boiling button is pressed. When the boiling temperature button 104 is pressed, the indicator light 112 is turned on. If the operator wants to start the cooking cycle, pressing the start time button 107 causes the basket to sink the pasta into the water. As the cooking period progresses, the remaining time is continuously displayed to the operator. When the cooking period is limited, the basket lift automatically pulls the pasta out of the water and the entire time previously entered on the display is redisplayed. Next, the operator rinses the pasta with cold water from the faucet 18 and puts the pasta into individual baskets for storage in an adjacent tank. Since the cooking period has been automatically returned to the display register, the operator need only press the time start button 107 to start another cooking cycle.

Upon completion of the cooking operation, control automatically returns to the boiling mode. The computer operates in thermostat mode with the temperature probe 50 to turn on and off the electric heating element and reduce the water temperature to below the boiling temperature, typically around 20 ° C.
Maintain the desired boiling temperature of 5 °. The use of boiling temperature when operating in the standby mode reduces starch scum resulting from agitation of the surface by boiling.

To return pasta cooked in advance, a desired time of, for example, 15 seconds is set in the display and the start time button is pressed. The basket lift causes the pasta to be submerged in water, which can be at the boiling or boiling temperature, for the time entered in the timer. The time set in the timer reappears at the end of each timed cycle, and in a later return cycle the start time button 10
All you have to do is press 7 °

When it is desired to remove bubbles from the top of the cooking tank, the operator need only press the supernatant removal button 106. As a result, the water injection valve 32 is immediately opened and water is injected through the nozzle 40 onto the water surface. The nozzle 40 is a probe 48
Please note that it is slightly above the normal operating water level defined by the lower end of the. As shown in FIG.
Since a small opening is arranged on the water surface, a considerable flow occurs on the water surface as indicated by an arrow in FIG. When the water level rises and overflows the weir 26 and flows to the drain pipes 28 and 24, the surface flow causes the starch foam to pass through the weir and to the drain pipe. The weir 26 has a substantially horizontal width and it has been found very important that a generally uniform water layer falls in a waterfall over the entire width of the weir. Otherwise, a very sticky bubble will form in the opening 2
It is not effectively removed from the tank due to bridging between the sides. Similarly, it is important that the opening in the vessel be sufficiently higher than the weir so that the foam can freely flow into the drain without contacting the top of the opening and preventing effective supernatant removal.

Water is introduced without operator attention during a supernatant removal cycle for a predetermined period of time, typically on the order of 2 minutes. After this time, the water supply valve 32 closes automatically. Therefore, the entire supernatant removal cycle can be performed at any time simply by the operator pressing the supernatant removal button. Normally, the skimming function is performed when the unit is in the skimming temperature mode. Thus, the decanting cycle removes the starchy foam and extends the time available for cooking and / or reconstitution without draining the water in a given tank through drain 22. This allows
Not only is the electrical energy required to reheat the water used to refill the tank, but also the downtime of the unit during critical operating periods is reduced.

When it is desired to drain the tank, the operator need only open the drain valve 22. With a low water level detector, this can be done at any time without damaging the system.
When valve 22 is open, as soon as the water level drops below the high water level probe, valve 32 is turned on and water is sprayed from nozzle 40 as long as water is drained from the tank. this is,
This is because the water is drained from the valve 22 at a much higher flow rate than the water introduced through the nozzle 40. As a result, when the water level drops and the side wall is rinsed, water is immediately spouted along the side wall of the tank 14 by water spray from the nozzle 40, and the water spread spreads around the side wall. A stream of water forms and covers the bottom wall. When the water level falls below the low water level probe, the heating element 42 is automatically deactivated and protected even if the water level falls below the heating element.

At an appropriate time, the drainage cycle can be terminated by simply closing the manually operated drainage valve 22, at which time the tank 40 is refilled with water as the injection valve remains open as described above. .

From the foregoing description of embodiments of the present invention, it can be seen that the labor required to prime, operate and clean the unit is substantially reduced, the unit can be used for a longer period of time, energy consumption is reduced, and economical manufacturing is possible. You can see that the improved pasta cooking system has been described.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various modifications, substitutions and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pasta cooking system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross section of a pasta cooking system according to the present invention;
Schematic side view.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the cooking tank of the system of FIG. 1 showing the water flow during the supernatant removal cycle.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a control panel of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating microprocessor-based control of the system of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the system of FIG. 1 of the microprocessor.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the system of FIG. 1 of the microprocessor.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the system of FIG. 1 of the microprocessor.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the system of FIG. 1 of the microprocessor.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the system of FIG. 1 for the microprocessor.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pasta cooking system 12 Cabinet 14 Cooking tank 14a Front wall 14b Rear wall 14c Side wall 14d Side wall 14e Bottom wall 16 Holding tank 18 Free water tap 20 Basket lift 22 Manual operation valve 24 Drain pipe 26 Overflow weir 28 Piping Reference Signs List 30 water intake line 32 water injection valve 34 line 36 line 38 hose 40 watering nozzle 42 electric heating element 44 enclosure 46 high water level detector probe 48 low water level detector probe 50 temperature probe 52 support block 54 shield 60 controller 62 microprocessor 64 power supply 66 Capacitor 68 Resistor 70 Capacitor 72 Capacitor 74 Resistor 76 Operational Amplifier 78 Line 80 Capacitor 82 Resistor 84 Capacitor 86 Resistor 87 Capacitor 88 Operational Amplifier 90 Input 91 DC Source 92 Operation Amplifier 94 Input 96 Variable resistor 101 Data bus 103 Timer 104 Mode switch 105 Mode switch 106 Mode switch 107 Mode switch 108 Mode switch 110 Alphanumeric display 112 Indicator lamp 114 Indicator lamp 120 Data bus 126 lines 128 lines 130 lines 132 lines

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor John Alan Meister Pine Cone Drive 624, Houghton, Louisiana, United States 624 (56) Reference French Patent Application Publication 2596250 (FR, A1) (58) Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A23L 1/16 A47J 27/14-27/16

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pasta cooking system, comprising: a drain pipe including a drain valve from a cooking tank and an overflow weir defining a maximum water level in the cooking tank through which water flows to the drain pipe by gravity. Cooking tank, heating means for heating the water in the tank, means for adding water from the water supply source to the tank under pressure including an electrically operated water injection valve, and detection of a regular high water level lower than overflow drainage Whenever the high water level detection means and the high water level detection means indicate a water level lower than the normal high water level, the water injection valve is operated in response to the high water level detection means to add water to the tank, so that the tank is automatically And a control means responsive to a high water level detection means maintained between the high water level and the maximum overflow water level during cooking of the pasta. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the control means further selectively opens the injection valve during the supernatant removal cycle, independent of the high water level detection means, and fills the tank with water until it overflows to the overflow drain. A pasta cooking system comprising means for adding starch to remove starchy foam from the water surface. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the drain valve, when opened, drains from the tank with a substantially greater amount of water than is added to the tank through the water injection valve, wherein the water injection valve operates during the drainage cycle. Is a pasta cooking system that is left open to rinse the tub and refill the tub when the drain valve is closed at the end of the drain cycle. 4. The system of claim 2 further comprising means for introducing water into the vessel in a flow pattern that creates a surface flow that carries the starchy foam over the water surface over the weir during the supernatant removal cycle. A pasta cooking system comprising: 5. The system according to claim 3, further comprising means for introducing water into the tank in a flow pattern such that when the tank is drained during a drain cycle, the wall of the tank is rinsed. system. 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the heating means is an electric heating element disposed below the tank and submerged when the tank is full, and further comprising a heating element higher than the heating means and substantially normal. A pasta cooking system comprising low water level detection means for detecting a low water level lower than the water level, wherein the control means responds to the low water level detection means to deactivate the heating element when the water level is lower than the low water level. 7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the cooking tub is conductive, and the detecting means is arranged to be submerged when a normal high water level is reached, and one conductive element is disposed adjacent to the tub wall. A pasta cooking system, wherein the control means includes means for applying an alternating potential between the conductive element and the tank wall and detecting a change in resistance between the conductive element and the tank when water creates a conductive path between the two. 8. A pasta cooking system, comprising: a drainage pipe including a drainage valve from the tank and an overflow weir defining a maximum water level in the tank through which water flows to the drainage pipe due to gravity. A tank, electric heating means arranged near the bottom of the tank to heat the water in the tank, electric-operated basket lift means for raising and lowering the food relative to the water in the cooking tank, A means for adding water from a water supply source to the tank, a high water level detecting means for detecting a normal high water level lower than the overflow drainage level, a low water level detecting means for detecting a low water level above the electric heating means, Temperature sensing means for detecting when the water temperature is a boiling temperature lower than the boiling temperature; and, in response to the high water level detecting means, the low water level detecting means and the temperature detecting means, only for a selected period, an "on" mode, a boiling mode, Boil mode, supernatant removal mode And the cooking mode is selected, and whenever the system is in the “on” mode and the water level in the basin is lower than the normal high water level, the water injection valve is automatically opened to maintain the normal high water level, In the clear removal mode, the water injection valve is opened, water is added to the tank, and the weir overflows.Unless the water level is lower than the low water level detection means, the heating means is continuously turned on during the boiling mode. A pasta cooking system comprising control means for maintaining the water temperature at the skimming temperature during the skimming mode unless the water level is low, and timing the duration of the cooking mode in response to a manual start time input. 9. The system according to claim 8 , further comprising: in response to the control means, automatically immersing the basket containing the pasta in the water at the start of the cooking mode and raising the basket from the water at the completion of the cooking mode determined by the timer. A pasta cooking system comprising a lifting means.